1. Field of Invention
The following application relates to gloves, methods and related systems for rapid removal and control of gloves, particularly useful in tactical situations and action sports environments.
2. Background of the Invention
Frequently, militaries send troops to combat zones. Often, troops may be transported to the combat zones via helicopter. In some cases, it may not be desirable for a helicopter to touchdown, so troops deploy from above ground as the helicopter hovers in place. One type of above ground deployment is known as “fast-roping.” Fast-roping basically requires the soldiers to repel down a rope like firefighters sliding down a fire-pole. This fast-roping technique creates a tremendous amount of heat from friction, particularly as the rope moves through the soldiers' hands. Consequently, fast-roping soldiers wear thick or padded gloves to prevent friction burn.
Thick and padded gloves are problematic for fast-roping into combat zones because fast-roping soldiers are vulnerable to attack immediately after they exit the helicopter and soldiers often cannot effectively access their weapons until after both reaching the bottom of the rope and removing the thick and padded gloves. Quick removal of fast-roping gloves is therefore of paramount importance, since access to more finessed hand and finger dexterity can mean life or death in combat zones. Understandably, soldiers in combat zones cannot spare the time or mental effort, to place removed gloves in a pocket or storage area and, as a result, many fast roping gloves are lost and must be replaced. In view of the foregoing, a need exists for apparatus and related methods of quick and calculated removal plus retention of fast-roping gloves. Although a primary use may be among soldiers, there are a variety of professions or situations that may also benefit from the ability to rapidly remove and store gloves, including but not limited to firefighters and police, iron and construction workers, and action sports athletes, to name a few. Essentially, any situation that requires taking gloves on and off and storage of theses gloves is contemplated.
There have been several inventions for hastening the removal of gloves, although none of them have worked and solved the problem as effectively as the embodiments of the present application. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,220 to Andriola teaches a glove with a pull-tab having five nylon string attached to each finger-tip of the glove. During ordinary glove operation, the tab is secured to the back of glove with the strings pulled taut. When the user is ready to remove the glove, the user unfastens and pulls the tab, which tugs the glove off the hand from each fingertip at the same time. However, this particular glove is designed with tight fitting sports gloves, such as baseball batting gloves, and would be impractical for the heavy gloves worn during fast-roping. The dainty tab would be hard for the thickly-gloved hand to grip and the nylon strings can easily break. Furthermore, Andriola's glove requires several steps to remove, which is not ideal when speed is a primary concern.
Like Andriola's invention, there are other mechanisms that assist users with removing gloves. WO 2012/151697 to Garneau teaches a glove with tabs on each finger to remove the glove. U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,200 to Hoffman teaches a glove with loops located near the joint between the proximal and intermediate phalanges. Both Garneau's invention and Hoffman's invention are specifically designed to work with tight fitting gloves, and are ill-suited for thick fitting gloves of the variety discussed in this application. Also, these gloves require pulling on each finger one-at-a-time, which is too thought intensive and time consuming for tactical situations.
In addition, there have been several inventions for removing tight-fitting stretchable or latex gloves that may be contaminated with various pathogens. U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,747 to Coffey discloses a glove removal system where the wrist of the glove features a loop. The loop fits around a hook and once the user has secured the loop around the hook, the user pulls his/her arm away from the hook so that the glove is removed. Similar to Coffey's system is the glove removal system of Dunkel (U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,134). Dunkel teaches a thin flat lever which is attached to a waste bin. A user inserts the lever between the glove and the hand and then moves his/her hand away from the lever and the lever peels the glove off, and the glove falls into the wastebasket. Both Dunkel and Coffey's systems are impractical for heavy duty gloves that cannot be peeled off. Furthermore, the primary purpose in both Dunkel and Coffey's system is to remove the glove without cross contamination, and as a result, the speed of the glove removal is sacrificed.
While there are systems for assisting with glove removal, none of these known glove removal systems mentioned above allow for quick removal and rapid retention of the gloves—and they do not address ideal angles of ergonomic removal with minimal expenditure of energy. U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,688 to Leslie teaches a device for firefighters' gloves. Leslie discloses a small strap of fireproof material that is clipped on to the exterior of a firefighter's uniform. This ensures that a firefighter always has his/her glove readily available in case of an emergency. While this is a retention method, the technology does not adequately address the needs of a fast and efficient removal of a glove. The system would require too much dexterity to remove and clip—whereas the present application deals with rapid removal and storage of gloves at a time when dexterity is at a minimum. The Leslie system involves multiple steps for securing the gloves to the outfit of a firefighter. Leslie's system simply is not adequately adapted for a fast-roping combat soldier, and even other situations because it is overly complex and not ideally efficient.
In summary, glove removal for a fast-roping combat soldier is dangerous. For other tactical situations, better systems are needed. Systems are known for removing sports gloves, but those removal systems are neither (a) suited for high-stress situations or heavy-duty gloves nor (b) enable quick retention of the gloves with nominal planning. Thus, there is a need for apparatus and related methods of quick and rapid removal, followed by subsequent storage of heavy duty gloves.